Slavstvuyte

Dear people,

As I approach the final stages of my MA in General Linguistics, focusing on Theory of Grammar and Cognitive Linguistics, I am actively looking for PhD opportunities starting January 2026 earliest.

With a background in Slavic languages, phonology, and language acquisition, my academic journey has been shaped by a deep curiosity about how languages are structured and processed. Over the past year, I've also gained hands-on experience in conversation analysis, transcription, and intercultural communication through my job at WU Vienna.

Additionally, as a board member and co-founder of The Association of Emerging Linguists, I’ve worked on community building, event organization, and knowledge sharing in the linguistics field.

I am particularly interested in projects related to sound acquisition in Slavic languages - but I’m open to exploring interdisciplinary research avenues!

If you know of PhD positions or collaborations that align with my expertise and interests, I’d love to connect and discuss potential opportunities. Feel free to reach out or share this post within your network!

🔍 Let’s talk linguistics!

Dear Slavstvuyte! people,

for the past 3,5 years, this community was such a great support. I started in the middle of pandemic, recording on my laptop, having no clue about editing or podcasting.

Throughout Slavstvuyte!, I managed to meet some great people - both in person and online - from all over the world. My stay in Munich would not be the same if it weren’t for this community, my studies might have been completely different and I am more than grateful!

As we grow older, we realise that our focus might shift to some new experiences and topics. I haven’t been feeling like doing anything podcast-related for the past year. Therefore, I owe it to you to be honest - Slavstvuyte! is coming to an end.

The episodes will stay for you to listen to them. All the social media profiles as well. You are more than welcome to write me, but I won’t be producing any more content.

Thank you for all the time and support throughout the years. Thanks to for joining me and wanting to help with starting things up again. Unfortunately, it would just be forcing something what isn’t there anymore. And I would hate that.

I will keep you posted on my academic journey. I am currently working as a Slovene & BCMS teacher in Vienna and hoping to be done with my masters by the end of January 2025. If there is any PhD opening you know about, please let me know.

Once again, thank you for the ride!

Lots of love ❤️,

Dina

The surprise I’ve been hinting at 😄

Meet Marvin, my new colleague! 😊

Back when I posted about having a hard time navigating Slavstvuyte!, Marvin reached out to me with an offer to help. We’ve been brainstorming ideas ever since and even recorded an episode together 🤩

As for his persona, this is what Marvin says about himself:”I’m Marvin, from France, now living in Vilnius, Lithuania. I’m specialized in Baltic and Slavic linguistics. To be more precise, I study the history of these languages. I spend all my free time with books and foreign languages, especially the Persian language which I’m learning right now.”

👉🏻 I can’t wait for you to hear the episode we’ve recorded and meet whar I’m sure is going to be a great addition to Slavstvuyte! team

You excited as I am? Let me know in the comments 👇🏻

If you learned German or English, you may have had trouble differentiate between der/ein or the/a 🧐

The truth is, articles can make learning a language a living hell 😅

👉 So let me put your mind at ease - the only Slavic languages with articles are Bulgarian and Macedonian. They occur as suffixes, not as separate words.

🇧🇬 Bulgarian has two different definite suffixes, depending on the function of the word in a sentence and the gender of the noun. If the noun is masculine, you need to make sure whether it's an object (suffix -a / -я) or subject (-ът / -ят).

ex. Донесохме стола (We brought the chair --> the chair being an object)
Столът е красив (The chair is beautiful --> the chair being a subject)

🇲🇰 Macedonian, on the other hand, has a set of complicated differentiations. Depending on the position of the object, one can say:

👉 Таа го слушна човекот (She heard the man -> 'man', is either close to the interlocutor or its position is unspecified)
👉 Таа го слушна човеков (She heard the man -> 'man' is close to the speaker)
👉Таа го слушна човекон (She heard the man -> 'man' is far from both the speaker and the interlocutor).

🧐 Did you know this? Write me a comment & follow for more on Slavic languages!

Something we all have heard at one point or another - how many Slavic languages can you understand if you already speak one? 🤷‍♀️

This is just like assuming that Swedes can understand German perfectly. And yet, nobody seems to ask the Swedes that question 😅

It's true that our cultures and customs are more intertwined than German and Swedish, but we Slavs don't automatically understand every other Slavic language, just because we speak one (or three 😜)

👉 So how similar are Slavic languages? Keep reading to find out!

What do linguists love more than language contact? 🥰

Hungarian is a Finno-Ugric language spoken in Hungary, so by that logic, it should be 𝐓𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 unintelligible to Slavic people, right? 🧐

Well, truth be told, it is 😅

But there are some loanwords you can find in Hungarian that could make your life as a Slavic speaker a bit easier 😁

👉 Swipe left to find out which ones!

Do you know any others? Write them in the comment section! ⬇️

Starting this year with a question...

👉 Russian is the official language in the Republic of Belarus as well, so there has been a debate on whether the name of the country in its official language is Беларусь or Белоруссия

The official sources claim the only right form is Беларусь, although the Белоруссия is still encountered in the discourse, but mainly perceived as negative ❌

Now, I don't have any personal experience regarding this topic, that is why I would like to hear from YOU 👇

🌻 What are your thoughts, experiences and opinions? Please keep in mind that the topic can be sensitive to some, so comment with respect

2023 was a good year for Slavstvuyte! 🥰

🌻 We started off with a great interview on Burgenland Croatian, followed by a couple of episodes on reduplication. I got the chance to talk to some interesting people, tried out a new format, and ended the year with the mini-series on slang!

Now, the time has come to lower the curtain, at least for this year! Thank you for being a part of another trip around the sun 🥰

Wishing you and your families happy & healthy holidays🎄